James clayton



(No Model.)

J. CLAYTON. REGULATOR FOR AIR GOMPRBSSORS.

No. 534,814. Patented Feb. 26, 1895.

Invemmc- Unitime@ STATES I ATENT Ormea.

JAMES CLAYTON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

REGULATOR FOR AIR-COMPRESSORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 534,814, dated February26, 1895.

Application filed .Tune 28, 1894. Serial No. 515,951. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Bo it known that I, JAMES CLAYTON, of the city of Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings and State of NewYork, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Regulators for Air-I Oompressors, of which the follown gis a speci- Iication.

This improvement relates to that class of regulators for compressorswhich consist principally of an automatic relief valve employed .betweenthe compressor and a receiver into which the compressed air or iiuid isdelivered and stored for motive power or other purpose, the said valveopening to the atmosphere to relieve the compressor of the resistance ofthe compressed air or iiuid in the receiver whenever the pressure ofsaid air or iiuid exceeds the maximum desired and closing automaticallywhen such pressure is reduced to said maximum and remaining closed whilesuch pressure remains at or below the said maximum. An example of suchregulator may be found in my United States Letters Patent No. 351,043,dated October 19, 1886. v

Figure l represents a central vertical section of a regulator embodyingmy improvement; Fig. 2, a section taken transversely to Fig. l, in theline 2, 2.

Similar letters of reference designate corre sponding parts in both thefigures.

A designates a delivery pipe for delivering compressed air from thedischarge chest of the air compressor to the receiver, the said pipe asrepresented communicating at its lower `end with the compressor and atits upper end with the receiver. This pipe A has projecting from it anoutlet pipe B which is open to the atmosphere, and immediately above theentrance to the pipe B thesaid pipe A has in it a check valve C whichwill open to permit air to pass from the compressor to the receiver butwill close automatically and preventthe return of any air from thereceiver.

In the outlet pipe B is a valve casing B containing the relief or outletvalve b represented as` a puppet valve which opens u pward and is heldto its seat when closed, by the pressure of air above it as hereinaftermore fully described. YThe stem b of this valve is prolonged upward andis, as shown, connected with the lever D which works on a fixed fulcrumd and which is provided with an adjustable weight4 D by which the valveb is loaded. As here represented the tulcrum cl is supported in a clampD2 affixed to the pipe A and itis guided in slotsotdin the fixedcylinder E E of a motor E E F F. The piston F F of this motor isconnected with the said lever and is acted upon by compressed airintroduced to its cylinder through a pipe G either `from a point in thepipe A beyond the check-valve C, or from the compressed air receiver towhich" said pipe leads. The said motor serves to exert a force on thelever D in the opposite direction to that exerted by theweight D andthus to open the valve b.

As l have thus far described it, the regulator herein illustrated doesnot differ essentially from that which is the subject of my LettersPatent No. 351,0l3. I will now proceed to further describe it withparticular reference to the present improvement.

The valve stem b instead of being connected directly with the lever D asin my aforesaid Letters Patent, is connected by a spring box c c"whichconsists of a cylindrical box c slotted for the lever D to passthrough it, and a coiled spring c placed within the said box abovethelever. The valve stem b is connected with the bottom of the boxebelow the lever and projects upward a little way into the box. The saidbox has passing through it and lirmly secured within it a pin e whichpasses through a slot e' in the lever D. Through the top of the boxthere is screwed a screw f between the lower end of which and the upperend of the valve stem b there is a space for play correspondingsubstantially with that provided in the slot e in the lever for the pine. represented as having a solid cylindrical head b2 which is groovcdfor the passage of the Vcompressed air from the pipes A and B to thespace provided above the said valve within its casing b3, the saidgroove serving to admit the compressed air from thepipe B on to lthe topof the valve to hold it down firmly until lifted by the operation of thelever l) as hereinafter described.

The motor cylinder E E has a differential bore, that is to say, itslower part E has a larger bore than its upper part E. The lower andupper parts F F of the piston are litted to The valve b is IOO therespective portionsE and E of the cylinder in which they work. Theconnection of the lever D with the motor piston is represented as madeby two antifriction rollers g g which are pivoted by pivots g within theslot h provided in the said piston for the passage of the lever Dthrough it, the said rollers being one above and the other below thelever.

Between the upper part of the piston and the head of the cylinder E E',is arranged a spiral spring t' the pressure oi' which on the top of thepiston is adjusted by a screw]l which screws through the closed head ofthe said cylinder and acts upon a cap 7c which bears upon the top of thesaid spring. 'lhc upper part of the piston is made hollow to receive thegreater portion ot the spring t' and serve as a guide thereto.

The pipe G has two branches, one G leading to the bottom of the motorcylinder and the other G2 leading to the upper part of said cylinder sothat both the top and bottom of the piston are exposed to the pressureof the air in the receiver or pipe A, the pressure on the bottom of thepiston preponderating by reason of its greater area. The pressure of thespring t' on the piston is so adjusted by means of the screwy' that thedownward pressure produced by the combined action of the Weight D', theair above the piston, the spring t' and the air above the valve l) whenthe latter is closed, will be balanced by the upward pressure of the airupon the bottom of the motor piston when the air in the delivery pipeAand the receiver is of the maximum pressure desired.

The spring c as herein represented, consists of two coil springsarranged one within the other and coiled in opposite directions. TheVtension of the said spring and its pressure on the lever D is adjustedby a screw cap c2 on the top of the box c. The springs c and i arerepresented as each composed of two coils. An adjustable stop screw Z isrepresented in Fig. l, applied on the outside of the motor cylinder toprevent the lever from being raised higher than is necessary.

While the pressure in the pipe A and the receiver is not above themaximum desired the parts remain at rest with the valve Z) closed. Vhenthe pressure exceeds this maximum, the piston F F is caused to rise andwith it the lever D but the valve b is not immediately opened by themovement of the lever as the spring c through which the le- Ver acts toraise the valve is not in its normal condition strong enough to overcomethe pressure of the air upon the upper side of the valve, andconsequently there is some lost motion between the lever and the valve.This lost motion or upward movement of the lever without operating uponthe valve is permitted by the slot e in the lever until the leverstrikes the lower end of the screw f in the spring boxc and thecontinued upward movement of the lever starts the valve from its seat.As soon as this starting takes place, the pressure above and below theVvalve b is equalized and the spring c instantlythrows the valve wideopen and makes a free communication through the pipe B to the atmospherefrom that portion of the pipe A below the check-valve, which latter isheld closed by the pressure in the upper part of the pipe A and thereceiver. The compressor then works without resistance from the air inthe receiver until the pressure in the latter gets below the maximumdesired when the combined action of the weight D, the air above themotor piston and the spring z' overcomes the pressure on the bottom ofthe piston and allows the lever to descend, but this descent of thelever D does not at once close the valve as the latter is held open bytheV spring until the lever strikes the top of the stem b', after whichthe continued descent of the lever closes the valve.

By the above described connection between the lever and the valve bymeans of a spring, the wide openingof the valve and the free relief ofthe compressor are made certain, which is not always the case when theconnection between the lever and the valve is made positive andunyieldiug. With such positive and unyielding connection the valve isapt to open but a littleway without giving a freerelief to thecompressor, its action being more like that of a safety valve.

By properly proportioniug the diameters of the upper and lower parts ofthe motor cylinder and its piston and giving a proper strength to 'thespring t', the weight D might bel dispensedv with, the spring being insuch case the equivalent of the weight D". I prefer, however, to usetheweight D as it insuresgreater steadiness of operation.

What I claim. as my invention is l. The combination with a pipe providedwith a check-valve for the delivery of fluid under pressure from acompressor, of an outlet situated below or inward of the checkvalve andprovided with a puppet valve capable of being held to its seat by thepressure of the delivered fluid, a motor cylinder having two unequaldiameters and fitted with a piston of corresponding unequal diameters, aspring in said cylinderacting upon the smaller end of the piston, a pipewith branches for the introduction to both ends of the said cylinder ofthe delivered iluid, and a connection between said motor and said puppetvalve whereby the said piston is made t0 operate the said valve toropening said outlet and the said piston and the said spring together aremade to operate the said valve for closing said outlet, substantially asherein set forth.

2. The combination with a pipe for the delivery of liuid under pressurefrom a compressor and an outlet from said pipe provided with a Valvecapable of being held to its seat by pressure of the delivered Huid, thesaid pipe being provided with a check-valve beyond said outlet, of aweight forholding the IOO IIO

rst named valve to its seat, a motor to be operated on by the deliveredHuid and acting upon the weight in a direction to raise it and open saidrst named valve, and a spring forming a connection between said motorand first named valve for opening the latter, substantially as hereinset forth.

3. The combination with a pipe for the delivery of fluid under pressurefrom a compressor and an outlet from said pipe provided with an outletvalve capable of being held to its seat by pressure of the deliveredfluid, the said pipe being provided with a check-valve beyond saidoutlet, of a weight for holding said outlet valve to its seat, a motorto be operated on by the delivered Huid and acting upon the weight in adirection to raiseit and open said outlet valve, a spring and acontaining box therefor through which spring and box the motor acts uponsaid outlet valve, and a screw in said box for regulating a lost motionallowed between said lever and outlet valve, substantially as herein setforth.

said outlet valve to its seat, a motor to be operated on by thedelivered fluid and acting upon the weight in a direction to raise itand open said outlet valve, a spring and a containing box thereforthrough which spring and box the motor acts upon said outlet valve, thesaid box having a screw cap forI the adjustment of said spring,substantially as herein set forth.

5. The combination with the delivery pipe A provided with a check-valveC for delivering fluid under pressure from a compressor, of the outlet Bopening to the atmosphere from the pipe A below the said check-valve andprovided with the downwardly closing valve b, the lever D for pressingon said outlet valve, the motor cylinder E E and its contained piston FF each having two unequal diameters,

the said piston being connected with said lever, the spring i in saidcylinder forpressing u on said piston, the pipe G with branches to bothends of the cylinder, and the boxe with its contained spring c forming aconnection between said lever and said valve b, all substantially as andfor the purpose herein set forth.

JAMES CLAYTON. Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, GEORGE BARRY.

